BHARATI PAWASKAR
It’s midnight. Obedient and studious Rohan is alone in his room, at his study table, mugging up a formula in chemistry and solving a maths problem. Suddenly, the door opens slightly and enters ‘maa’ draped in a saree, holding a glass of milk with a smiling face yet looking very concerned about Rohan’s exam phobia and his health. This is not some energy drink ad - it was a common scenario in most homes in the seventies and eighties. In the new millennium, one wonders, where’s this yesteryear ‘maa-beta jodi’ gone?
Indeed times have changed and with it people and their mentality too. But the fear of exam has doubled. It now haunts not only the students but their parents too.
“This is the most crucial time for students, especially those who appear for the toughest exams. And it’s a difficult time not only for the students, but for their parents too, who try to balance their own timetable and be with their stressed-out child and help her face exams. It is with this goal - to ease the stress of both parents and students - that ‘Lakshya’ has been working extensively for the past one-and-a-half years,” states Ranjana Agarwal, who has been running Lakshya Academy in Goa along with her husband Vishal Agarwal as its director.
Indian parents pressurise their child to do well in exams and bring good results right from kindergarten. The child is burdened with such pressure and often, is unable to cope up or just breaks down. The fear of failure cripples the student, giving rise to complaints like headaches, stomach aches, nausea, increased heart rate, excessive sweating etc.
These symptoms are very much real and not fake, however many times parents fail to realise this. They feel that their child is simply complaining or giving lame excuses. Some are worried that their wards spend more time watching television or chatting on mobile.
“Therefore we found a need to educate parents how they must behave during exam times,” briefs Ranjana who is holding a session for the parents wherein a psychologist will guide parents to how to take care of their children during exam.
“Parents can give some interesting activity to their kids to distract their mind from exam stress, make them cool down or feel better. This helps them indirectly in concentrating on studies and remembering what they have read. There will be also be a presentation session to demonstrate various activities,” shares Ranjana.
Lakshya has different resource persons to take care of various aspects including clinical psychologist and counsellor, Rupali Mohbe. Last year too, the academy had two sessions on parenting. Pointing out that today’s working parents have less quality time to spend with their child, Ranjana observes, “This gives rise to feelings of guilt which the parents try to overcome by pouring gifts, goodies and gazettes to compensate their absence. But, we educate the parents and make them aware that being with the child in the times when he/she needs them the most is more important than material goods. So be with them, spend quality time and interact with them in a positive manner. We have witnessed that this helps a lot to ease out the stress in children.”
Learning can be made a fun activity, which can keep both, the parents and children engaged. They can enjoy together, play games or search answers to quizzes. A simple drawing or painting activity can also be relaxing. “So why not indulge in it?” asks Ranjana.
Children go blank, lack concentration, are unable to organise, have exam apprehension and fear of failure, experience low self-esteem or face memory problems. Eventually, this may lead to situations of anger, anxiety, depression, sadness or panic attacks. She is happy that the training sessions has taken a step forward in helping out the stressed parents to help themselves and their kid.
